Lahore: Police on Monday arrested five more suspects in connection with the murder of a 25-year-old pregnant Pakistani woman who was brutally stoned to death for marrying the man of her choice, taking the total number of those taken into custody over the killing to 10.
Farzana Parveen was attacked last week outside the Lahore High Court by nearly 20 members of her family, including her father and brothers, with sticks and bricks.
The brutal murder of Farzana shocked rights bodies and people across the globe.
Police today arrested five more suspects in connection with the case. They had previously arrested five suspects including the victim`s father Mohammad Azeem, uncle and three cousin brothers.
The suspects arrested today were also relatives of Azeem.
Parveen, who was three months pregnant, had gone to the court to testify in defence of her husband Muhammad Iqbal, 45, accused of kidnapping her and forcing her to marry him.
She was attacked outside the Lahore High Court and died on the spot after suffering critical head wounds while Iqbal managed to escape. Parveen had married Iqbal a few months ago.
Parveen`s family had accused Iqbal of kidnapping her.
Parveen`s family had also claimed that she was already married to her cousin Mazhar and Iqbal had lured her into a second marriage without getting her divorce from the first husband.
Iqbal had allegedly killed his first wife some six years ago but was freed from jail after his son, the complainant in the case, pardoned him.
Meanwhile, a Lahore sessions court today reserved the decision on the application of Parveen`s elder sister, requesting it to register a murder case against Iqbal for killing her.
Khalida Bibi through her counsel advocate Mansoor Rehman Afridi told the court that her father, brothers and other relatives had been implicated in the murder of her sister.
Rehman said Iqbal had killed Farzana during a scuffle between her family members and Iqbal and his accomplices.
Afridi said after killing Parveen, Iqbal and his accomplices put the blame on her family members.
He said her father Azeem was arrested by police when he had gone to the police station to get a case registered against Iqbal.
The petitioner also informed the court that the Mozang police had subjected Azeem to severe torture.
The court was requested to stop the police from harassing the other family members of Azeem who were not present during the clash.
The gruesome killing in the name of honour has sparked a countrywide debate demanding strict laws and their implementation to check the menace.
